THE MISTAKES OF PRESIDENT JONATHAN And How He Could Have Remained President

My name is Dumebi Ifeanyi and I am a political animal. This article is
in no way meant to insult/derogate the personality of President Goodluck
Ebele Jonathan. Its main motive is to show his mistakes and what he
ought to have done.I feel compelled to write this article in order
for aspiring young politicians like myself to learn from the mistakes of
one whose actions led to the near destruction of a great party which I
dearly support. Many might be pleased, many might not, but affairs of
state ought to be seen/stated for the way they are and not the way they
ought to be. So let’s begin…..

His Nature

Any good,
prudent leader knows that in order to thrive and grow in politics, he
ought to know how to be Soft and Hard, Jonathan is a good man…an overly
good man and in politics ‘soft/good men’ don’t go very far. He found
himself in several situations where he was supposed to take the best
possible action which might have been seen as morally ‘bad’.You see,
in politics and governance as a whole, you are required to be
objective….certain circumstances require that you do that which might be
viewed as morally ‘bad’, but in order for your government to stand, for
your people to survive and for your position to remain, you must take
these actions. There are situations whereby you do that which is viewed
as morally ‘good’ and you will come to absolute ruin.

Image

How
the people see their leader is also very important.GEJ did not manage
his image well; he was viewed by the people as ‘weak’ because of his
lack of charisma and confidence.

The Love of the people

Of
all the mistakes that will be stated here, please pay very good
attention to this one….NEVER EVER LOSE THE LOVE OF THE PEOPLE!! This is
Paramount! Why? The power truly lies with the PEOPLE!Jonathan came
into power with the love of the people (the ‘I had no shoes’ story),
everyone loved him but along the line, he made the people lose faith in
him, especially after the Chibok girls issue.

Media/Chibok girls

The
Media controls the minds of the people. President Jonathan made grave
mistakes in managing the media’s representations of his actions. His
leadership skills were already not to impressive and the media was not
helping matters, even when he appeared to make a little improvement it
still did not help as people had already grown fond of getting negative
reports about him, so what should he have done? Two things I propose….1. He should have befriended/enriched some top media house heads, gave them contracts…I mean…everyman has a price.2.
Anyone who refused to be his friend, he would have crushed…how?
Influencing the revoking of broadcast licenses, strongarming…..(there a
whole lot of ways to deal with them…contact me if you need more..:-)You
might say these are wicked and underhand but anyone who derives joy in
destroying me before thousands of people, poisoning their minds and
causing me psychological problems has no RIGHT to enjoy while I suffer! I
would be foolish to have the means to deal with them and I don’t....:-)On
the chibok girls issue, the president’s lukewarmness caused his great
misfortunes, had he immediately given a speech, a good one, a
sympathetic one….even if he had no information yet…he would have just
addressed the nation and told them that they were working on the matter/
investigating not releasing press statements through Abati….The people
needed to know that they had a leader…If they had seen his face, heard
his voice…it would have been much better. Had he mobilized the army
earlier(or hired mercenaries), had he also given more speeches, speeches
that all media houses, TV stations, radio stations would broadcast
live(suspending all other programs), supported the Chibok girls
campaign, heavily publicized appeals to the AU,UN..etc, these actions
could have salvaged his already battered image.He should also have
invested heavily in social media at an early stage, he greatly
underestimated it and thought it to be ‘’child’s play’’ but anything
causing you great harm and loss of peace of mind is NOT ‘’child’s
play’’.

Poor AdvisersA leader’s strength is
measured by the advisers/men he has around him. He should have properly
vetted those he chose for advisers and he should have weighed his
political alliances. He also trusted the wrong people.

Biting the Finger that fed him

His
biggest mistake till date is not keeping OBJ satisfied, biting the
finger that fed him. You see, those who rise to power on the shoulders
of others depend on the fortune and goodwill of him who has elevated
them, Jonathan let his rift with OBJ thrive and that was a very, very
grave mistake. You see, so far the Old military junta, so far the former
military leaders live, Obasanjo is still as relevant as he was in the
old days…..He should never have underestimated the power of the Iroko of
Owu…he should never have!In choosing enemies, make sure you know
everything about your enemy….his alliances, his strengths. Obasanjo is a
man who has ruled this country for a combined 11 years so he knows the
inner workings of governance including its weaknesses. GEJ should have
been wiser.

He was soft when he had to be firm

He
could have salvaged a little of what’s left of his already battered
image had he left the likes of Oduah, Abba Moro etc out to dry i.e given
them up. He could have successfully built an image of a president who
did not condone corruption had he done this, thus increasing the
confidence the people had in him.

He associated with the STAINED

A
leader should never be found associated with the STAINED, Those who
have been publicly labeled as corrupt and evil. He associated himself
with men who had been indicted, arrested and had one problem or the
other with law enforcement thus giving the opposition media fodder and
‘staining’ himself in the process…come on…never play with ink if you
have white clothes on.

Marginalizing the South west

Frankly
speaking, He should never have marginalized the south-west…For God
sake; they control the media and the Judiciary. I am being very
realistic; He should have been friends with those with heavy political
influence and should have kept them satisfied early enough. He should
have sent more developments and foreign investments their way.

Poor Foundations

Apart
from politics, when you build a house on poor foundations it will
eventually collapse. GEJ had strong foundations in the SE and the SS but
did not in the southwest and in the north, the whole Boko Haram/Chibok
girls issue coupled with his Luke warmness destroyed the little he had
built there.

In Conclusion, the president’s mistakes were
numerous but if he had addressed the few stated above, he could have
still been Nigeria’s leader today and I urge all aspiring politicians to
draw lessons from his shortcomings than criticize him. Never
forget…Politics is not for all, it is for a particular breed of human
beings….wanna know if you have got what it takes?